Multicar door operator



Aug. 9, 1932.

E. E. ARNOLD MULTICAR DOOR OPERATOR 4 Shaets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

; INVENTOR v Edwin E. Arnold lll ll 'ATTORNEY WiTNESSES Aug. 9, 1932. ARN LD MULTICAR noon OPERATOR Filed Dec. 27. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fly. 5.

' INVENTOR WITNESSES f W I Q Edwin E. Arnold.

' 7 AT'i'ORNEY sw m Aug. 9, 1932.

E. E. ARNOLD 1,870,828 MULTICAR DOOR OPERATOR Filed Dec. 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Sbeet 4 7'0 Contra! G'rcuiz To Control 6'1 al' HI? Bl? WITNESSES #J d'n qm [15W lW 3 INVENTOR Edwin E fllwo/d 20 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 9, 1932 UNITED STA T-E-S PATENT EIiW'IN E; Amman, or sisrsn'eaen, rsnnsrnvxma, assremon ro*avnsrmenensn ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING poi/many," "A conrommionnr PENNSYLVANIA MULTICALR BOO B- OPERMGR Application filed-DecemberQY, 1830. Seri aLNo-p5fliflfi3.

invention relates to elevator door-operating systems and more particularlyto hatchway-do'or apparatus forplural-elevator sys- "temsfln which two or more cars-are operated independently of each other in the same shaft.

The object of myinvention, in general, is to provide simple, inexpensive and easily operated mechanism "for opening the hatch- ]3 Way-doors atthe floor landings-in .aplnral elevator system when the cars stop at the landinga-zind for closing the doors when"t-h-e cars conipletetheir stops.

A more specific obj ect of my invention is to provide an elevator-door :system' for a plural elevator in which relatively small electric Inotors may be employed for operating the-systern of hatc'lrway door-grand in which only one hatchway door operating' motor will he reez'. quiredfor each car.

Another objectof my inventionis to provide a door-operating system 'in' which no d cor-operatingapparatus need be carried on the car.

2., A further object is to provide a hatchwaydoor operat'ing system for-a plural elevator in which the stopping of any one of the c'ars'at ailoor landin will cause "the hatchway door a t that lending to open. 7

It is also an object of my invention to provide a door-operating mechanism that will occiipy a minimum 'am'oi'int of hatchway space. Other oblects of my invention will, in part,

of-an elevator hatchway including means embodying my invention.

2 is zi diagrammatic representation of the hatchwayshown 1n Fig. 1, provided wlth I be obvious and will, in part, appear herein,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation twoelevator cars, viewed at a right angleJto part ofthe cover bein loroken. away'todisclose a pair of inter'loc ing switches that are associated with. the elevator system. o 663 Fig. '6 is a View, in side e1evation,...of 'th clutch and switch shown in Fig. 5,. and

V Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic .representationnf an electrical circuitfor controllingthe dooroperating mechanism shown in the preceding 65 figures. V V

Referring' ,more' particularly to the drawings, I have illustrated therein an i elevator hatchway structure '10 inwhich are d-isp osed two elevator'cars A and B. klthongh' the 7 h-atchways or} pluralel-evatorsare usually con structed for serving many "floors in' very tall bnildings, and, obviously, may contain more than -two ears; the-oneillustrated in the :drawings is,' or'ithe-sa'ke0t.simplicity; shown as 7 serv i ng 'onlyifive floors, 1,2, 3',- 4 and: 5.. The cars Asand' Bfmay be suspended by a pluralitytoficables Cu -and (Eat; for independent operation in ithe-rhatchway in "1211113 suitable manner; such; 1 for instance as that disclosed 5e in the copendin-g application of Henry. J ames; Senial N0.-255.-;049, filed February. 17, 1 928, and assigned .tothe Westinghouse .EElec tried: Mfg. -.Gompany. A pent-,honselKfor, thermachinery of car .A and a,.pent-house 14c.-. 85 for :the machinery .05? car B are disposed at the top of the elevator hatchwayl'o.

The entrance from each 'floori landing to the cars in the hatchway is provided with. a two-panel door-1'6; the doors ,for'the. firs't, 90

second, thirdand fourth floors being shown in closed position and the door for the fifthfioor landing is shown in its open position.

. In order that the hatchway door at a landing may be opened when the car B stops at that landing, a door motor 17, provided with a driving drum 18 is located in the pent-house 14. Wound around the driving drum 18, to

e be driven thereby through frictional engagement, therewith, is a door-operating cable 19 which extends downwardly past the hatchway doors. A weight 20 is secured to the lower end of the cable 19 and disposed in a guideway 21 at the bottom of the hatchway. Theupper end of the cable passes over a pulley 22, on the ceiling of the pent-house 14, to a weight 23 disposed in a guideway 24 on the side wall of the pent-house. The weights 20 and 23 keep the cable 19' under tension and maintain it in good frictional. contact with the driving drum 18, so that operation ofthe driving drum will raise or lower the cable in the hatchway, depending upon the direction of rotation of the door motor.

In order that the hatchway doors may be coupled to the cable 19 for operation thereby, a sleeve 26 (Figs. 3 and 4), provided with a projection or pin 27, is mounted upon the cable at a point near each hatchway door. Connecting members are provided for each door and inasmuch as they are all the same,

only'those for one door will be described in detail. The sleeve. 26 is firmly secured to the cable 19 by means of a pair of clamps 28, which are removably bolted to the cablein order that the position of the sleeve on the cable may be changed when desired. 7

The pin 27 extends through the central portion of the sleeve 26 andiis provided with a vertically disposed hole of sufiicient size to permit the threading of the cabletherethrough when the sleeve is mounted upon thecable with thepin and the sleeve prevents the pin from turning and wearing the cable.

A lever 30, to be actuated by the raising or lowering of the door cable, is pivotally connected at one end thereof, to the free end of the pin 27. Theother end of thecable lever 30 (Figs. 5 and 6) iswelded, or otherwise firmly secured, to an actuating'electromag netic clutch member 31 that cooperates with an armature clutchlmember 32 to constitute an electromagnetic clutch 33. The cooperating clutch members 31 and '32 are concentrically and rotatably supported upon a pin 34 mounted in a base plate 36 which is firmly a'ffixed to the wall of the hatchway 10. The armature member 32 is seated upon the pin 34 by means of a wearing bushing 37 in a position adjacent to the base plate 36, andis retained in that position by a flanged sleeve 38. The flanged sleeve 38 is retained in its positionby a washer 39, which, in turn, is retained on the pin 34 by a shoulder 40 on a stud bolt 41 which is screwed into the outer end of the pin. 7

The electromagnetic clutch member 31 is slidably and rotatably seated upon the body of the flanged sleeve 38 and is retained in that position by thehead of the stud bolt 41. It should be noted that the distance between the head of the stud bolt 41 and the shoulder 40 is sutficient to permit the clutch member 31 to travel into and out of engagement with its cooperating armature clutch member 32. A coil spring 42 is mounted between the clutch members in a position concentric with the pin 34 for biasing the clutch members away from each other. i

' In order to overcome the biasing effect of the spring 42 and cause the clutch members 31 and 32 to engage when the hatchway door is to be opened, an electromagnetic coil 43 is mounted upon the clutch member 31. The coil 43 may be electrically connected in some portion ot-the control system for the car in such manner that it will be energized when the car makes a stop at the landing at which the clutch is located, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

v A plurality of cooperating saw-like teeth 44 and 45 are so disposed upon the cooperating faces of the clutch members that they will grip each other firmly when they are brought together bythe energization of the coil 43. Preferably, the teeth 44 and 45 are inclined at such an angle that the clutch members will grip each other firmly when the clutch is energized and the cable is raised to open the door, but which will facilitate the separation of the clutch members when the coil 43 is deenergized and the cable is lowered.

An arm 50, to be raised by the rotation a slot 53 in the upper end of a vertically disposed connecting rod 54 that the rod will be raised when the arm 52 is raised. A set screw 56 is disposed in the top portion of the rod 54 to permit adjustment of the rod and theroller.

The lower end of the rod 54 is pivotally connected to a lug on a toggle lever 57 for operating the hatchway door 16. One end of the toggle lever 57 is pivotally supported, by a bolt 58, on a bracket 59 which is secured to the side wall of the hatchway. The other end of the lever 57 is pivotally connected to one end of a central lever 60 (Fig. 1), the other end of which is pivotally connectedto one end of a lever 61. The outer end of the lever 61 is pivotally connected to the outer panel of the door 16, and the middle portion of the central lever 60 is pivotally attached to the inner door panel, so that the raising of the toggle lever 57 by the conlIi;

Fr" LL) nseoses move to the left into theirf ull open positiont A hand-grip 62 is mounted upon the central toggle lever by'whi'ch the door may bemanually opened from within the car, when desired;

Whilethe door motorl'l" and thecable" 19 maybe reversed to close thehat'chway door afterit has been opened, I provide an additional door-closing means comprising aspring operatorfiti, as a matter of additional safety. The operator 66'may be'of any well known type comprising a cylindrical casing 67,21 piston 68 disposed within the casing a pistonrod 69 firmly connected to the piston and extendin upwardly through an aperture in a cap 70 on the cylindrical casing: and anoperating spring il-that is coiled around the piston-rod 69 and placed under compression between the piston and the cap. The lower end of the cylinder 67 is pivotally connected to a bracket 72 on the side wall of the hatchway, and the upper end of the piston rod is pivotally connected to a lug 73 on the toggle lever 57 in such manner that the spring 71 is held under compression, which is increased by the operation of the toggle levers when the door is opened, therefore, it the opening force is released, the spring will 'expand to cause the door to move to its closed position. 7

Referring now to car A, in order that the hatchway doors may be opened for that car when it'makes a stop at a landing, a door motor 7 6, provided with a driving drnm 77, is mounted in the upper pent-house 13 for operating a door-opening cable 78; The'cable '58 extends past the hatchway doors and is wound around the driving drum 77- with its upper end extending over a pulley 79 to a weight disposed in a guideway 81; A weight 82 is attached to the lower end of the cable to keep it under tension. The cable 78 is connected to the lug on the door toggle lever by means of a lever 30a, an electromagnetic clutch 33a, an arm 56a, and a connect-- ing rod 83, in the same manner as the cable 19 and operates in the same way.

A pair of switches 84 and 85 are mounted upon each electromagnetic clutch (seeFigs. 5 and 6) for electrically interlocking the clutch and arm with the control system of the car (not shown).

The switch 84 is disposed to engage a contact member 84a on the clutch 32 and is so biased toward an open'position by a spring 846 "that it will open when the clutch member 31 moves inwardly upon beingenergized.

The switch 85 is also disposed to'engage a flanged portion of the contact member 84a when the arm is in its lower or inactive position. The switches may be connected in series aportion: of the control system represented by the conductors bearingithe'legend to control circuit, sothat, if the clutch is ener gized or the arm is'raised, the control-circuit for the car will be broken, and the car cairnot operate;

In' order to permit the; operation of one door-openingcable by one car when the other cable is'inactive without openingthe switches 84' and'85' associated with that other cable, the slot 53in each of the connecting rods 54 and 83 is'ex te'nded downwardly a sufficient distancebelow theroller'topermit the rod to be removed upwardly without causing any movement of the roller. .Hence, withthis lost-motion connection, it either one of the connecting rods is raisedito operate the door, the other rod, connected to the same; toggle lever, will also be raisedybutt-he slotted por? tion of the rod will slide'alongi the roller therein without moving it. Hence,; it" will not disturb-th door -operating-arm or clutch at that door for-the other car. V

The door-operating apparatus'so far de scribed be coupled to the car-control system in any suitable manner, such that, when one of the-cars makes a stop atafloor landing, the clutch corresponding to that car atthatlanding will be automatically energized and then the door motor will; be automatically energizedfto raise the door cable and thereby" open thehatchway door. *When the car is conditioned" to leave, the motor and clutch will be deenergi'zed, and'the doorwill return to its closedposition, under the action of the spring operator 6G.

. In Fig. 7, 1 have illustratedrone manner -in which'the door operating apparatus may be coupled to a power control system. In this figure, the door-operating, apparatus for car A is shown as controlled bya relay AR which is disposed'to be energized whenthe carA is conditioned to run andrtobedeenergized when the car isconditione-dto stop.

The operation of the relay AR supplies energy to the door-operating apparatus which is controlled by means of a floor se lector- AS in such manner thatthe clutch member corresponding tothe floor at which the caris to stop will be' energized-and then the car motor 76 will be energized to open the hatchway door at that landing.

The floor selector AZS may be" located at any 'suitablepoint, for example, in the penthouseorin the elevator shaft. The selector is'similarto those usually employed in elevator' signalling; systenis' and is provided with a set of up? contact segments and'a. set of down. contact-segments which are disposed to be engaged by. brushes 85 and SG-Whicharemountecl'upon, and ablearm The movable arm MA is opgerated-by a screw S which may be driven b'y-some operate ing:mech=anism connected tothe cart; The: frictional? engagement between-thearnr insulated from" a movand the operating screw S causes the arm to bear upon the up contact segments when the car is travelling upward and upon the down contact segments when the car is travelling downward. The contact strips 87 and 88 are connected for energization by the closing of the contact members 6 on the relay AR when that relay isdeenergized. The contact segments, one for each floor, lying adjacent to the contact strips are connected to the coils of the clutches disposed .at the hatchway doors for selectively energizing such clutches when the car makes a stop.

The outer rows of contact members are provided for energizing the motor 76 to drive the drum 7 7 It will be noted that the contact segments'for the clutches'are'longer than the contact segments for the motor. 'The difference in length causes the clutches to be energized before the motors-to thereby insure correct operation of the system.

Although any suitable motor may be emplowed, I prefer a three-phase torque motor. A brake 89 is mounted on the shaft of the motor 76 to prevent rotation of the drum 7 7 motor 76.

The'door-operating apparatus for car B is provided with a control system similar to that described for car A, comprising a control relay BR, a floor selector BS, a pair of re versing switches 93 and 941 forthe motor 17, a brake 95 for the driving drum 18, and a controller 96 for operating the limit switches to stop the'motor when it completes its movement.

The invention may be better understood from an assumed operation thereof. Assuming that the car B is ascending the hatchway and that the attendant thereon conditions the car to stop at third floor, then the. controlrelay BR will be deenergized and close its contact members Z). The closing of the contact members 6 of the relay Br supplies energy to the contact strips 100 and 101 on the floor selector BS. Inasmuch as car B is travelling upward, the contact brush 102 on the floor selector BS isin engagement'with the contact strip 100 and the cooperating con tact segments on its up? side. As the car approaches the third floor, a circuit iscompleted for energizing the clutch 103 at the third floor, which circuit extendsfromconductor L1, through conductor 104, the contact members I) of relay BR, conductor 105, contact strip 100, brush 102, contact segment 106, conductor 107, the coilof clutch 103 and cuit extends fromv supply conductor L through conductor 1, the contact members of b relay BR, conductor 105, contact strip 100, brush 102, contact segment 111, conductors 113 and 11 1, feed ring 115,- limit switch 116, conductor 117, the coil of relay 93 andconductor 118, to supply conductorL The energization of the relay 93 closes its contact members a and Z) and thereby completes acircuit for connecting the door motor 17 to a suitable source of alternating current represented by the supply conductors I, II and III to rotate that motor in a clockwise direction. The closing of the circuit for the motor also energizes the brake coil 120 and releases the brake 95. is rotated in a clockwise direction to raise the cable 19. The raising of the cable 19 lifts the cable lever 121 at the third floor and thereby rotates the member 31' of the clutch 103. Inasmuch as the clutch member 31 has been lockedin engagement with the clutch member 32 by the energization of the coil of the clutch 103, the rotation of the clutch member 31 efiects, the rotation of the clutch member 32. The rotation of the clutch member 32 raises the clutch arm which, being.

Thereupon, the drum 18 ECO toggle levers 57, and 61at the third floor 1 door. from their straightline position and thereby moves the door panels to their fullopen position.

' As the door panels reach their full-open position, the rotation of the controller 96 by the door motor causes the limit switch 116 to open, thereby deenergizing the motor 17 and the brake coil 120, which causes the drum 18 to stop in its door openv position. By reason of application of the brake when its coil is deenergized, the door will remain open until the car is conditioned to start.

Assuming now that the attendant on car 13 conditions the car. to continue its upward trip, then the relay BR will be energized to open its contact members I) and close its contact members a to etlect the closing of the 'door at the third floor landing.

The closing of the contact member a on the relay BR completes a circuit for energizingv thedirection'switch 94: to reverse the motor 17, which circuit extends from supply conductor L1 through conductor 121, the contact member a of relay BR, conductor 122 'feed ring 123, the contact members of limit switch 124, conductor 125, the coil of direction switch 94:, andconductor 118, to supply conductor L The energization of the direction switch 9% closes its contact memhere a and b for supplying alternating-cum rent energy in a reverse direction to the motor 17 and for energizing the brake coil 120 to release the brake 95. Thereupon, the motor 17 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction to cause the winding drum 18 to lower the door cable 19 and, through it, to reverse themovement of cable arm 121 the clutch 103, the clutcharm 50, the connecting rod 5 1 and the toggle arms 57, 60 and 61. This operation causes the toggle arms to move into their straight-line position to close the door 112 atthe third-fioor landing.

ditional safeguard, the opening of the contact member I) on the relay BR opens the circuit for the coil ofthe clutch 103 and deenergizes that clutch so that the clutch members 31 and 32 therein separate from each under the biasingeffect of the spring as. Furthermore, inasmuch as the spring operator 66 is connected to the door toggle lever57, it will, as soon as the clutch is deenergized exert a closing effect upon the hatchway door 2y the force stored up in the operator spring Assuming now that car B has started down and that car A has also been conditioned to start down. As the car A is conditioned to descend, the relay AR is energized to open its contact member bandclose its contact member a to effect the closing ofthe hatchway door at the fifth-floor landing. Inasmuch as the arms MA of the floor selector AS will not reverse their position until the car actually starts downwardly after the doors are closed, the contact brush 85 will remain on contact strip 87 and'associated contact memher until the door closes.

The opening of the contact member 6 of a of relay AR, conductor 128, feed ring 129 the limit switch 130 011 controller 90, conductor 131, the coil of switch 92 and conductor 132 to the supply conductor L The energization of the direction switch 92 closes its contact members a and Z) and thereby completes a circuit, from the alter-.

hating current supply conductors I, II and III for energizing the motor '56 to cause it to rotate in a clockwise direction. The supply of energy from the motor 76 also energizes and releases the brake 89. Thereupon, thedrum '4 rotates in a clockwise direction and lowers the cable 7 8, which, in turn, lowers the cable lever 30a at the fifthfioor. If the clutch'has not yet been d'eenergized the downward operation of the lever 30a willactuate the clutch arm s, the connecting rod 83 and the toggle levers 57, and 61 to close the door at the fifth floor. At thesame time, the door closer 66, connected the door toggle lever at the fifth floor, "exerts its stored-up energy to move the ihatchway door to its closedoosition. V p As soon as the hatchway door is fully closed, the-car will-:start downw ardly,and the contact brush 86 on the arm MA of the floor selector AS will swing into engagement with the,.down contactstrip 88 and 4 I the contact segments associated therewith. However, it will be noted that, as an ad- Assumingnow that the attendant on;-car A conditions the cartostop at the third floor, as it" approaches that floor, then the relay AR will be deenergized to open its contact members a and close its contact members b; 7 I 1 The closing of the contact membersb of the relay AR lener-gize's the contact strip 88 on the floor selector AS and, as the'car'A approaches the third floor-landing, the brush 86 engages the contact segment 135,'thereb.y

' completing a circuit for energizing the direction switch 91', which circuit extends from supply conductor L1, through conductor 136,

the contact members I), of relay AR, 0011- ductor 137, contact strip 88, brush 86 contact segment 1-35, conductors '138and 139, the coil of the clutch 1 10 at the third floor landing and conductor 108, 'to supply conductor L x a The energi'zatior'i of the coil of clutch 140 at the -third-fioor landingcaus'es the member 31 of that clutch to move into enga-ge-= ment 'with the cooperating member 32 so that the door 112 will be opened when the cable 78 is operated. 1 j

As the car A continues its approach to'the third-floor landing, the brush '86 engages the contact segment 141 and thereby completes a circuit for energizing the direction switch 91 to effect the opening of the door 112, which circuit extends from supply conductor L through conductor 136, the contact members 5 of relay AR, conductor 137, contact strip 88, brush 86, contact segment 141,'conductors 142. and 1 13 feed ring 144, limit switch 145 conductor 146,the coil of direction switch 91 and conductors 14:7 and 132, to supply conductor L The closing of the contact members a and b of the relay 91 connects the door motor 7 6 to the alternating-current supply conductors I, II and III, which causes the motor to rotate in a. counter clockwise direction and also releases the brake 89.

Therotation of the motor 76 raises the cable 7 8 which, in turn, raises the cable arm 1 1 8 at the third-floor landing. Inasmuch as the clutch 140 at the third floor landing is energized, the raising of the cable arm rotates the clutch and thereby raises the clutch arm a at that landing, which, in turn, raises the connecting rod 83v and the toggle lever 57. The operationof the toggle lever 57 moves the toggle levers 60 and 61 out of their straight-line position and thereby effects the opening of the door 112. As the door moves into its full-open position, the rotation of the motor 76 causes the limit switch 145 to open, thereby deenergizing the motor and setting the brake 89 to stop the downward movement of the cable 78.

The connecting rod 83, being attached to the lever-57, also moves upwardly when the connecting rod 54 moves upwardly, but, inasmuch as the slot 53 in the upper portion vof the connecting rod 83 extends downwardly.

making a stop at a landing, will cause the hatchway doors at that landing to automatically open and close'for the stop. 1

Although I haveillustrated and described only one specific embodiment of my inven tion, I realize that many modifications there of may be made. Therefore, I do; not desire tobe limited to'the precise construction illustrated and described.

' I claim as my invention: 1. In an elevator system, the combination with a plurality of carsoperable past a plurality of doors in a hatchway, individual means for moving said cars, and lndlvidual means for controlllng sald moving means to start and to stop said cars, ofmeans for op-v crating the doors comprising an individual door-operating motor for each car, an individual.-movable member'for each car dis posed to be operated past said doors by the motor forthat car, anindividual electromagnet for eachof said cars disposed at eachof said doors, and means operably: responsive to operation of the controlling means of any one of said cars to stop that car at a landing, for energizing the electromagnet associated with that car at that landing and for energizing the motor associated with that car for moving the door at that landing to its open position.

2.In an elevator system, the combination with a plurality of cars operable past a plurality of doors in a hatchway, individual means for moving said cars, individual means for controlling said moving means to start and to stop said cars and individual means for biasing said doors to their closed position, of means for operating the doors,

comprising an individual door-operating mofor energizing the motor associated with that car for moving the door at that landing to its open position and means operably responsive to operation of the controlling means to start that car for releasing said door to its closed position.

3. In an elevator system, the combination with a plurality of cars operable past a plurality of doors in a hatchway, individual means for moving said cars, and individual means for controlling said moving means to start and to stop said cars, of means for operating the doors comprising an individual door operating motor for each car, an individual movable member for each car disposed to be operated past said doors by the motor for that car, an individual electromagnet for each of said cars at each of said doors, and means operably responsive to operation of the controlling means of any one ofsaid cars to stop that car at a door for energizing the electro--magnet associated with that carat that door for moving said door to its open position, and means operably'responsive to the energization .of an electro-ma-gnet at a door for preventing operation of the car with which the electro-magnet is associated while it is deenergizedf 4. In an elevator system, the combination with a plurality of cars operable past a plurality of doors in a hatchway, individual means for moving said cars, and individual means for controlling said moving means to start or tostop said cars, of means for operating the doors comprising an individual door operating motor for each car, an individual movable member for each car, to be operated past said doors by the motor for that car, an

individual door operating arm for each car disposed at each door, to be operated by the movable member for that car, an individual electro-magnet for each of said cars at each of said doors for connecting the corresponding arm to the corresponding movable member and means operably responsive to operation of the controlling means of any one of said cars to stop'that car at a door for energizing the electro-magnet associated with that car at that door and forenergizing the correspond erably responsive to an active position of an arm at a door for preventing operation of the car with which that arm is associated while it is in its active position.

5. In an elevator system, the combination with a plurality of cars operable past a plurality of doors in a hatchway, individual means for moving said cars, and individual means for controlling said moving means to start or to stop said cars, of means for oper ating the doors comprising an individual door operating motor for each car, an individual movable member for each car to be operated past said doors by the motor for that car, an individual door operating arm for each car disposed at each door to be operated by the movable member for that car, an individual electro-magnet for each of said cars at each of said doors for connecting the corresponding arm to the corresponding movable member and means operably responsive to operation of the controlling means of any one of said cars to stop that car at a door for energizing the electro-magnet associated with that car at that door and for energizing the corresponding motor to actuate the door operating arm to open the door, and interlocking means operably responsive to the active position of an arm at a door for preventing operation of the car with which that arm is associated, and lost-motion connecting means between said arms and said doors to permit either car to open any door at whichit may stop without moving the arm associated with the other car at that door.

6. In an elevator system, the combination with a car operable Past a plurality of hatchway doors disposed at difierent landings,

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of December,

EDWIN E. ARNOLD.

means for moving said car and means for controlling said moving means to start or to stop said car, of means for ope-rating said doors comprising a motor, a movable member disposed to be operated past said doors by said motor, an arm disposed at each door and connected thereto, a clutch disposed at each door, means operably responsive to operation of the control means to stop the car at a door for energizing said clutch to connect the arm at that door to the movable member and for energizing said motor to operate the movable member and the arm to open the door, and interlocking means operably responsive to the open position of said arm for preventing the operation of said car.

7. In an elevator system, the combination with a car operable past a plurality ofhatch- Way doors disposed at different landings, means for moving said car and means for controlling said moving means to start or to stop said car, of means for operating said doors comprising a motor, a movable member disposed to be operated past said doors by said motor, an arm disposed at each door and connected thereto, a clutch disposed at each door, means operably responsive to op 

